Columbus Short

A screen performer from his early twenties, Columbus Short began his career as a movie actor with somewhat conventional roles in youth-oriented films, such as the 2006 releases Save the Last Dance 2 and Accepted. He worked his way into more serious and substantial material in the years to follow, however -- beginning with the role of Darius on Aaron Sorkin's critically praised but short-lived showbiz drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-2007). Short received critical kudos and added attention for his contribution to the family-oriented ensemble comedy This Christmas, playing an African-American man who arrives at his family's home to celebrate the Yuletide holiday -- without telling them that he has married a Caucasian woman. Additional assignments included the lead role in Quarantine (2008), directors John E. Dowdle and Drew Dowdle's remake of the Spanish horror film [REC]; and -- on a nostalgic note -- an evocation of blues maestro "Little Walter" Jacobs in director Darnell Martin's ambitious homage to the blues in 1950s Chicago, Cadillac Records (2008). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide